Slideshow Transcript

1. Slide 1: Game Studies Download 3.0 Get schooled.
2. Slide 2: Who We Are Ian Bogost, Ph.D. Mia Consalvo, Ph.D. Jane McGonigal, Ph.D.
3. Slide 3: Why Game Studies? Game researchers are very smart people who care a lot about games the people who play them, and the future of the medium. They have targeted expertise in: HCI, economics, computer science, psychology, narrative, anthropology, artificial intelligence, architecture, and more.
4. Slide 4: Get Ready • We looked at hundreds of new articles and studies • This is our rapid fire Top 10 Countdown! • It’s 10 big ideas & 10 practical takeaways • Download the slides later: www.avantgame.com/top10.htm
5. Slide 5: #10 Top Research Finding The best content understands exactly how the player likes to play -- and makes it slightly harder.
6. Slide 6: “How do you keep players at the very edge of performance?” Julian Togelius, Renzo De Nardi and Simon M. Lucas, University of Essex
7. Slide 7: “How do you keep players at the very edge of performance?” The big insights:  Optimization is uninteresting!  Fun tracks are the ones in which the player almost loses control  Player behavior can be sources for generation during play — or before play, as archetypes Julian Togelius, Renzo De Nardi and Simon M. Lucas, University of Essex
8. Slide 8: Julian Togelius, Renzo De Nardi and Simon M. Lucas, University of Essex
9. Slide 9: #10 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here Custom procedural variations in a limited environment can be more fun than big environments & open worlds.
10. Slide 10: #10 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How can your next game use player-inspired procedural variation?
11. Slide 11: #9 Top Research Finding Breaking the “immersive spell” can make gameplay more engaging.
12. Slide 12: “Does immersion really have to be seamless?” Ewan Kirkland, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK
13. Slide 13: How can disrupting immersion make a game more engaging? The big insights:  Breaking the fourth wall can be good!  Clumsy controls can heighten fear and frustration, driving emotional reactions  Games that comment on themselves provide memorable content, atmosphere  Disruptions can contribute to a unique game style Ewan Kirkland, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK
14. Slide 14: #9 Top Design Takeaway Making players remember it’s a game can heighten their experience.
15. Slide 15: #9 Top Design Takeaway Could you engage players by breaking their immersion at least once?
16. Slide 16: #8 Top Research Finding  Big splashy screenshot goes here Reality-based gaming is already a bigger market than you think.
17. Slide 17: “Are game players getting tired of screens?”  Big splashy screenshot goes here Zhao Chen Ding, Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghau University Beijing
18. Slide 22: “Are game players getting tired of screens?” The big insights:  In China, reality-based games are perceived as a better way to play with friends & family  Standardized tools facilitate fair gaming  1.5 million XClub members  WAN-enabled game engines extend the immersive environment (see Majoy City)  Consoles, laptops & mobile game devices are key to next-gen reality games Zhao Chen Ding, Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghau University Beijing
19. Slide 23: #8 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here Reality gaming is taking consoles and mobile devices in a more “traditionally social” direction.
20. Slide 24: #8 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How can your next game go beyond the screen to better facilitate playing with friends and family?
21. Slide 25: #7 Top Research Finding  Big splashy screenshot goes here Gamers can be altruistic, empathic, and nurturing.
22. Slide 26: “Can games tap into ‘nice’ emotions?”  Big splashy screenshot goes here Aki Järvinen, University of Tampere, Finland
23. Slide 27: “Can games tap into ‘nice’ emotions?” According to emotion theory, there are 4 types of emotions to explore:  “Prospect-based” - tied to an event  “Attribution” - relating to the emotions of others  “Fortunes-of-others” - eliciting empathy and altruism  Attraction - likes and dislikes Aki Järvinen, University of Tampere, Finland
24. Slide 28: Prospect-based
25. Slide 29: Attribution
26. Slide 30: Fortunes-of-Others
27. Slide 31: Attraction
28. Slide 32: “Can games tap into ‘nice’ emotions?” The big insights:  Current games privilege prospect-based emotions and attribution emotions  There is an unexplored design space in developing fortunes-of-others and attraction emotions. Aki Järvinen, University of Tampere, Finland
29. Slide 33: #7 Top Design Takeaway Empathy, altruism, and attraction can add emotional depth to any game.
30. Slide 34: #7 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How can your next game make players want to be nice to game characters?
31. Slide 35: #6 Top Research Finding It takes 10 hours of gameplay for women to play with the same spatial attention skill as men.
32. Slide 36: “How fast can women gamers improve spatial attention?” Jing Feng, Ian Spence & Jay Pratt, University of Toronto, Canada
33. Slide 37: “How fast can women gamers improve spatial attention?” The big insights:  Spatial attention requires the ability to detect, localize and identify a target  Gamers are always better than non-gamers at spatial tasks  Female players achieved spatial attention proficiency in the game after 10 hours of gameplay  Abilities were maintained over time (5 months) Jing Feng, Ian Spence & Jay Pratt, University of Toronto, Canada
34. Slide 39: #6 Top Design Takeaway Women can excel at spatial attention games, given time with the game.
35. Slide 40: #6 Top Design Takeaway How can you get new gamers to invest 10 hours in your game while they improve their spatial attention?
36. Slide 41: #5 Top Research Finding The exit screen matters.
37. Slide 43: “How do players experience the moment they exit a game?” Mark Wigley, Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University
38. Slide 44: “How do players experience the moment they exit a game?” The big insights:  Exiting a game is not like turning off the TV or putting down a book  The abruptness of exiting a game reveals how deeply you have been immersed  The only real risk in games is to exit!  Like any other architecture, the real key to game space is the design of the entrance and the exit Mark Wigley, Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University
39. Slide 46: By Dan Burkholder (New Orleans series)
40. Slide 47: - M.J.Ouellette, Institute for Construction Research
41. Slide 48: #5 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here The exit experience is an under-designed game space.
42. Slide 49: #5 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How will you architect a grand exit to your next game?
43. Slide 50: #4 Top Research Finding  Big splashy screenshot goes here Musical instrument tutoring can make you a REAL music hero.
44. Slide 51: “Can music games teach you to play for real?”  Big splashy screenshot goes here G.Percival, G.Tzanetakis University of Victoria, Y.Wang National University of Singapore
45. Slide 52: “Can music games teach you to play for real?” The big insights:  Explain why a performance gesture is wrong, not just that it was wrong  Practice can be enhanced by generating exercies based on computational analysis of pitch problems  3 goal areas for future work: teacher’s lessons, student’s practice, and student motivation G.Percival, G.Tzanetakis, Y.Wang
46. Slide 55: #4 Top Design Takeaway Music games can answer the criticism “why not play a real instrument” – without sucking.
47. Slide 56: #4 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How can future music games connect fantasy performance with real-world practice?
48. Slide 57: #3 Top Research Finding Voice chat measurably makes you like your guildmates more – usually.
49. Slide 58: How does voice chat impact the social bonds of gamers? D. Williams, L. Xiong, USC Annenberg; S. Caplan, U Delaware
50. Slide 59: How does voice impact the online gaming experience? The big insights:  Voice chat intensifies social feelings – both positive and negative  “Push to talk” has a strong bonding effect on guildmates…  … but the annoying become more annoying. D. Williams, L. Xiong, USC Annenberg; S. Caplan, U Delaware
51. Slide 60: Feeling thermometer outcomes for treatment versus control.
52. Slide 61: #3 Top Design Takeaway Voice intensifies social impact, which is a mixed blessing.
53. Slide 62: #3 Top Design Takeaway How can you help players mitigate potential downsides of voice chat?
54. Slide 63: #2 Top Research Finding  Big splashy screenshot goes here There are 3 key ways to increase the monetary value of avatars.
55. Slide 64: “What’s my game character worth?”  Big splashy screenshot goes here T.Kujanpää, T.Manninen, L.Vallius, Game Design/Research, U. of Oulu
56. Slide 69: “What’s my game character worth?” The big insights:  You can increase player investment in your game by building more “social”, “achievement” and “immersion value” in your characters  Overall value of game characters is increasing due to the persistence of MMO worlds & overall growth in economy T.Kujanpää, T.Manninen, L.Vallius, Game Design/Research, U. of Oulu
57. Slide 70: #2 Top Design Takeaway Gamers are inceasingly looking for maximum “character value”.
58. Slide 71: #2 Top Design Takeaway How will you use social, achievement, & immersion value to increase your next game characters’ net worth?
59. Slide 72: #1 Top Research Finding  Big splashy screenshot goes here Videogames are the future of live sports.
60. Slide 73: How can real sports events mix with virtual ones?  Big splashy screenshot goes here J.Bardzell, S.Bardzell, C.Birchler, Will Ryan, Indiana University
61. Slide 74: How can real sports events mix with virtual ones? The big insights:  Sports viewing is changing. Internet access is pushing TV aside as a dominant way for sports fans to participate with games, teams  Videogames don’t let fans participate except with rosters and the like  But live sports generates a ton of live data, ready for transmission J.Bardzell, S.Bardzell, C.Birchler, Will Ryan, Indiana University
62. Slide 75: How can real sports events mix with virtual ones? The bigger insights:  There’s a whole new world of untapped mixed-reality games  Not wonky augmented reality or telepresence! J.Bardzell, S.Bardzell, C.Birchler, Will Ryan, Indiana University
63. Slide 78: #1 Top Design Takeaway Sports viewing is changing – and videogames have a huge role to play in their future.
64. Slide 79: #1 Top Design Takeaway  Big splashy screenshot goes here How can your next sports game mix the realities of a live professional sports with a virtual version of it?
65. Slide 80: #1 Top Design Takeaway … and really, how might any game mix the realities of a live real events with a virtual version of it?
66. Slide 81: Download the slides and complete references – and our secret “Top 10 SHADOW List!” www.avantgame.com/top10.htm